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Tyson Barkdull

Illegal Immigration

Illegal immigration is becoming a very large problem within the United States and is affecting every single citizen whether they know it or not. A lot of the affects are so blatant that they are almost smacking you in the face, telling you to do something. While I have my own opinion on the subject, some may say that immigrants play a very important role in what the United States is. I say that they are correct. But its only fair that they follow the laws that we ha ve in place. Illegal immigrants are affecting every one of us by: crimes committed by them, costs associated with everything, and many different economic problems. It is time that we take some facts and analyze the problem that is before us before it is too late. I need to clarify one thing, illegal Immigration is a problem in the United States, but our country was built off immigrants and we are better for it. The problem is, this current wave of immigration has gotten out of control and needs to be stopped or at least slowed to a point we can control. Now a lot of people think that all the illegals come from Mexico, and thats not true. In the 2011 immigrant news, the author points out that only (well not only) 57 percent of the Illegal immigrant population comes from Mexico. Although, that is a total of 5.3 million (As of 2011) and thats a lot, that leaves around 4 million illegal immigrants from other countries. Can you believe that we have a total of 9.3 million illegal immigrants in the United States? That is over 4 times the population of Utah alone. I know its pretty much smacking you in the face already, but let us keep going. I believe this problem starts because a lot of people dont see any problem with illegal immigration, and I blame that mostly on the media. For some reason it seems that the media is scared to use the word illegal. Author Lamar Smith of the National Review put it perfectly Its not right to gloss

over the difference between legal and illegal and call them both immigrants. Theres a huge difference, and political correctness shown by some reporters cannot bridge the gap. Smith also gives a great

Barkdull 2 example, in an article that appeared in the San Antonio Express-News last year, Hunt for bordercrossers is on ground and in air, the reporter used the words immigrant and immigration five times but couldnt bring himself once to use the word illegal. Ponder to yourself, how often have you heard
anything on the news the negative effects on our country from illegal immigration? How many times have you heard anything about a solution for illegal immigration? For some reason they always portray the illegals as a hard working border crossers just trying to feed their family. I can honestly say that I wouldnt have as much of a problem with illegal immigration if they were only here trying to feed their families. But is that really the case? Some maybe, but the facts dont lie. One of the biggest problems of illegal immigration that is affecting us tremendously is the crimes that are being committed. It may just be me, (I dont think so) but it seems every time I turn on my TV and watch the local news I hear about a terrible crime being committed, a lot of time by an immigrant. 25 percent of people in our Federal Prisons are illegal immigrants. In some areas of the country 12 percent of felonies, 25 percent of burglaries, and 34 percent of thefts are committed by illegal immigrants. Also, Illegal aliens commit between 700,000 to 1,289,000 or more crimes per year. Does this sound like hard working people just trying to feed their families? I think not. Now I know a lot of those stats come from high traffic illegal immigration states so I would like to give you some facts from my home state, Utah. Utah has the 17th largest amount of illegal immigrants with 65,000. That may not sound like a lot, but when our state only has 2,700,000 people, it becomes a a little bit more. That means Utah is made up of 25% illegal immigrants. To go along with that, our state has an unemployment rate of 7.3%, now you tell me what would happen if we didnt have all the illegal immigrants? Lee Davidson of the Salt Lake Tribune wrote an article in November of this year (2013) about a man named Kenneth Lewellyn Flowers. He was convicted in August of felony illegal reentry of a

deported alien and possession of a firearm and ammunition by an illegal alien. He was also on trial for murder but was acquitted because it was self defense, even though both were high on crack. Flowers has since been deported for the third time. Even though this is only one minor example of what illegal

Barkdull 3 immigration brings, it still wouldnt have happened if he wasnt here. "Criminal aliens disrupt our communities and menace law-abiding Utahns," said Thomas E. Feely, field office director for ICEs Enforcement and Removal Operations in Salt Lake City. "ICE is using its unique immigration enforcement authorities to protect our communities from criminal aliens who pose a threat to public safety."
Another crisis that comes with illegal immigration is drugs. It is said that ninety (90) percent of cocaine consumed by U.S. Citizens comes from Mexico brought here illegally, usually by illegal immigrants. That means between 300 to 460 metric tons of cocaine crosses the border every year. There are 20 million people in the United States that use cocaine; 7 million of those are addicts and use on a regular basis. In 2005 34,000 people died from a direct result of these drugs. Yeah, yeah, yeah I know not every illegal immigrant brings over a ton of cocaine. But do you really think that people would still be crossing the boarders if there would be a stricter punishment for doing so? Why not test it out and see if we can save some of these lives at least. Another large problem with illegal immigration is the cost of letting them into our country. It is said that illegal immigration in California costs them 10 billion dollars annually. (Longley) Another 1.4 Billion dollars go towards providing health Care for these illegal immigrants, but dont worry; Mr. Obama is going to take care of that. And yet California wonders why they are bankrupt? That is a lot of money that could go towards better schools, parks, roads, and many other things to help their peoples community. Like I mentioned before 25 percent of our people in federal jails are illegal immigrants. At 20,108 dollars per year per inmate, that is a lot of money that could go to the abo ve mentioned items as well. Now dont let us forget that us tax payers lose millions of dollars every year due to the fact that illegal immigrants dont pay taxes. After they skip on the taxes they send all their money home. The Washington Post recently stated that illegal immigrants are sending around 45 billion dollars to their homes in Latin America. Still wonder why the prices of all your favorite items are going up every day? Many of you have probably heard about Arizonas new law, and some may not agree with it but here are some facts that might help you understand. Fox News released some figures that I would like to share with you. Illegal Immigration is costing Arizonas taxpayers 1.7 Million dollars a year. (Longley) If

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that isnt enough right there to persuade you to understand why they are doing it, I dont know what will. Arizona is in a state of crisis with the illegal immigrants killing the economy. Author Jacob Smith explains that the toll is heavy on the state, and even though many wont agree, this law is what the state needs. It is said that illegals take 1.6 Billion from Arizonas education, 695 million from health care, and 85.5 million in welfare, and 155.4 million in other general costs. Can you imagine what a state could do with all that money? This isnt only happening in Arizona either. Now I dont think every state should go to the extreme of Arizona, but every state needs some sort of law to implicate some of the things this law does in Arizona. To go along with the cost of illegal immigration and crimes committed by them, the next huge problem with illegal immigration is the amount of jobs they take from the hard working AMERICAN citizens. There is said to be nearly 12 Million illegal immigrants in the United States, which is 4 percent of our population.(Diversity 10) We have a 9 percent unemployment rate, so you give the jobs that the Illegal immigrants take from American citizens and wahlah a magic 5 percent unemployment rate. I bet most people havent even lived in the States when there was a 5 percent unemployment rate. Wouldnt that make a lot of American citizens happy? Wouldnt you think that all this information would make everyone want to stop illegal immigration to the United States? To go along with them taking jobs, the other day I was driving down a road in downtown Salt Lake City. Now remember what I told you above, Utah isnt a big spot for illegals to come, but as I was driving down this road in a work truck I was stopped probably 15 times by people (non U.S. Decent) trying to work under the table. Now I understand they work for cheap, but we really need to start punishing these companies that hire them under the table. It only hurts American Citizens that are really need the job and are going to pay taxes and make an honest living. It is already a law, so lets enforce it! We have so many laws that dont get put to use, and it doesnt make sense to me. Last but not least, illegal immigration effects the education of every child in the United States tremendously. Here in Utah we have been having some serious issues with paying for our public schools. All I hear about is budget cut after budget cut, and I fear for the futures of all these kids. Its not fair that they all have to suffer when a solution seems simple. How many times have you heard that here

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in the U.S. we are so far behind other countries when it comes to education. I cant remember where, but the other day on the radio they were talking about where the U.S. ranks among the other industrialized nations when it comes to education. They put the United States at 18 out of 36 nations. We use to be a leader in secondary schooling, so this is scary. With how advanced our nation is we should be at the top still. Now I understand why I have 5 friends I went to high school with going overseas to school. Why wouldnt you, if it means you will get a better education? Now you cant blame this on illegal immigration, but I believe it has a great impact on it. Lets open our eyes people of America! Lets do something if it only to help our future leaders of our great nat ion. Lets not let our kids suffer any longer! As you can now see, illegal immigration affects every single American citizen whether they know it or not. Have I changed your mind yet? Even if I havent at least you now know the facts about illegal immigration. I believe that if everyone could hear these facts, it would change a lot of peoples minds, and maybe even get someone to take action. Innocent people are dying at the hands of illegal immigrants every day! Kids are suffering by not getting the education they deserve! Your hard earned money is going towards paying for these people to live here for free! What is it going to take to change people minds and stop illegal immigration to the United States of America? Lets not wait too long, or it just might be too late.

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Works Cited

Nearly 12 million illegal immigrants in the US". USA Diveristy Lottery. April 17, 2010 <http://www.usadiversitylottery.com/green-card-dv2011-immigration-news-april162009.php>.

Longley, Robert. "Illegal Immigration costs California 10 Billion Annually". About.com. April 17, 2010 <http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/immigrationnaturalizatio/a/caillegals.htm>.

"Cost of Imprisonment". Florida Department of Corrections. April 17, 2010 <http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/statsbrief/cost.html>.

"The Dark Side Of Illegal Immigration". usillegalimmigration.com. April 17, 2010 <http://www.usillegalaliens.com/impacts_of_illegal_immigration_crime_summary.html>.

Utah quckfacts from the us census bureau. (2010, April 22). Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/49000.html

Statemaster.com, Initials. (2000). Estimated number of illegal immigrants by state . Retrieved from http://www.statemaster.com/graph/peo_est_num_of_ill_imm-people-estimated-number-illegalimmigrants

Passel, J.H, Capps, R., & Fix, M.E. (2004). Undocumented immigrants: facts and figures. Retrieved from http://www.urban.org/publications/1000587.html

Barnes, E. (2010, May 17). Cost of illegal immigration rising rapidly in arizona. Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/17/immigration-costs-rising-rapidlty-new-study-says/

Williams, K. (2006, October 19). Imigrants sending $45 billion home. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/18/AR2006101801756.html

Smith, Lamar. "Media Ignores the Facts on Illegal Immigration." National Review. N.p., 06 Feb 2012. Web. 10 Dec 2013. <http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/290292/mediaignores-facts-illegal-immigration-lamar-smith>.